I haven't tried a eSATA drive yet but try making sure your S3 remote to set to IR ID 0. Press and hold the PAUSE and TiVo buttons simultaneously until the red light at the end of the remote control comes on, remains steady, and then stays on when you release the buttons. Then press 0 and the red light should blink 3 times. Then try the eSATA procedure again.

Dude I don't know you but I LOVE YOU!!!

I was too lazy to do what you suggested but you got me to thinking about the remote. I normally don't use the TIVO remote. I use a Harmony 890. So I tried the process using the Harmony and it worked!

I think you must have been on to something that probably the TIVO remote is not set to IR ID 0. I don't know why that would be as I didn't do anything consciously to change it and I assume that is the default setting. The only other thing I can think is that somehow having the Harmony hooked up (I control the TIVO via an RF extender) interfered with the TIVO remote (although basic functions can be controlled just fine with the TIVO remote).

In any case, muchas gracias amigo. Good call.

Just for the record, I have FW 8.3 and to remind all I am using the Seagate FreeAgentPro 750gb drive.

Success! I've upgraded my TiVo Series3 with a WD MyBook Premium ES 500 GB drive. Unfortunately my patience initially wasn't good enough, and I think it would've worked if I had just waited; after a few tries, I unplugged the drive, plugged it back in, and turned the TiVo back on with the eSATA drive powered off. After that, then doing a "kickstart 6 2", it hesitated for a moment, and then told me my new drive was activated. Consider this another recommendation to anyone who hasn't already tried it - it's well worth it.

after a few tries, I unplugged the drive, plugged it back in, and turned the TiVo back on with the eSATA drive powered off. After that, then doing a "kickstart 6 2", it hesitated for a moment, and then told me my new drive was activated. Consider this another recommendation to anyone who hasn't already tried it - it's well worth it.

No, the drive automatically powered itself on when the TiVo was powered on. I didn't fully understand that from the drive's documentation (and it claimed it wouldn't automatically power on via eSATA - it did though).

...I haven't tested what happens when you pull the plug and start it up again, but the on/off button clicks in when it's on and out when it's off.

Bought this off Buy.com, but had trouble getting the "Rebate Request #" required for the rebate from the Calvary site. Anyone else have this problem? Also, would be interested to know if people had to open up to change jumper...Saw this problem on reviews on various sites. Glad to know about this potential problem. Thanks. RJOM

With new batteries, the TiVo recognized the drive first time around. May be coincidence, but may be worth a try to those having difficulties.

When I first saw the procedure to add an ESATA the first thing that
came to mind was I'd better be sure the remote has new batteries. My
500gb seagate is coming today, the remote is waiting with fresh
batteries installed.

Cons: Fan is too noisy for placement near entertainment area--it makes dialog hard to hear for us middle-aged boomers.
Other Thoughts: I bought this to use as an external hard drive with the SA8300 DVR. Setup was easy with the included eSATA cable. The SA8300 DVR sees this RAID array as one drive, which is as it should be. However, I set this up near the bedroom TV, and it's too noisy for this application. I'll have to find alternate cooling, or move it out of the room

What I REALLY need is more space on my PC (iMac). Could I connect the eSATA to the TiVo and - simultaneously - to my computer via USB to solve both my needs?

The controllers in most enclosures will only work with one interface at a time. That said, even if it did work, you couldn't do that - the TiVo puts on a Mac partition table and makes an MFS partition covering the whole disk, so you can't just split the drive up. (Even if you could, the performance would probably be pretty terrible.)

Maybe just get a smaller drive for the TiVo, and use the remaining money to get a separate drive for your Mac?

Here's a question. What happens to the show that was watched and then deleted? When you remove the Esata, is the deleted program still showing up on the original drive in the garbage can as a recently deleted item? Can it be retrieved then?

I have a suggestion for the FAQ. Rather than the column saying whether it has a power on/off switch, can you add a column that indicates if the unit will turn itself on automatically after a power failure. That is the relevant question isn't it? We don't want an eSata that isn't turned on after a power failure ends. I don't think the on/off switch question gives the needed info. For example, a unit that doesn't have an on/off switch may very well boot up as soon as it gets power again - or it might not. And, it may be that a unit with a power switch will switch off even if the switch is on after a power failure. Or am I missing something?

Like many others, I'm waiting for official TiVo comment before I do this. I don't want a software "upgrade" to knock out potentially more than a hundred hours of recordings in a couple months.

FOR THE CANADIANS OUT THERE:

I'm finding a number of the discussed eSata drives discussed in this thread can be found through the PriceCanada.com website for some decent prices:

Unfortunately virtually every U.S. retailer discussed in this thread doesn't ship to Canada and the major big box stores in Canada (Future Shop and Best Buy) don't carry ANY eSATA drives.

Thanks to all involved with this. I'm quite keen on expanding my S3 - now if only TiVo would provide me with the ATSC guide data that my Buffalo friends just 50 miles away already have!!

...Dale

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